I drew all the time as a kid and began to take a serious interest in cartooning in junior high school.

Cartoonist / Animator Salaries by education, experience, location and more - iwysuhod.web.fc2.com

I wrote to all of my favorite cartoonists, read lots of books about cartooning and practiced my ideas and art every day. I made my first professional cartoon sale to a magazine at age 15 and gradually built up my career over the years, stacking one small accomplishment on top of another, branching out into different types of cartooning whenever the opportunity came along.

I went to college for one year, a journalism major, then began freelancing as a magazine gag cartoonist full-time at age 19 in Utica, NY. There are few overnight success stories among cartoonists. It varies from one cartoonist to the next. An animator or greeting card artist who works on staff for a large company like Hallmark Cards ,. Plus they get to work in a creative environment with other artistic people.

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Unlike the self-employed freelancer, a staff cartoonist will probably have health insurance coverage,. All fees are split with the syndicate that distributes the work the agent.

Books, calendars and other merchandise featuring your characters may increase your income even further. A self-employed freelance cartoonist will live from one sale to the next doing all sorts of project work and his income will fluctuate from week to week, month to month, year to year.

Some cartoonists go to art school and some have no formal cartooning education at all. Many cartoonists start out as teachers, engineers, psychologists, factory workers, etc.

Most have natural talent and begin cartooning as a hobby and eventually leave their jobs to cartoon full time. You can study to be a cartoonist at specific cartooning colleges, such as The Kubert School in New Jersey, Ringling College in Florida or The School of Visual Arts in New York City or you can teach yourself with books, classes, and years of practice. Remember that a good cartoonist is a writer who can draw, not an artist who can write….

In a nutshell, the process is pretty simple. Or send your work to a comic strip syndicate…if they reject you, try again with a new idea and cast of characters. The Graphic Artists Guild publishes a Pricing and Ethical Guidelines book that is very helpful. A good web page can also help you attract a fan base and open new doors of opportunity. This is probably the best way to get started these days. In addition to building a fan base for your work, your website may attract the attention of editors or sponsors who can help you start generating income.

You can set up a Cafe Press shop with your cartoons and place Google or Yahoo ads on your site to bring in some income.

Most cartoons are still drawn by hand at wooden drawing boards and I know of no software program than can replace that. However, computers are a great way to add color to your cartoons, animate them, add special effects, and there are a variety of programs available you can try.

You can also use a computer to scan your cartoons, convert them to digital files and put them on the web or send them to others by e-mail. These days I deliver many of my cartoons by e-mail attachment and they print perfectly. You can use a Windows PC or a Macintosh computer to do cartoon graphics, but most professional cartoonists feel that Apple Macintosh computers are still the fastest and easiest and safest way to do graphics.

I use an Apple iMac computer running the latest Mac operating system with a 27 inch monitor, Brother scanner and Lexmark color laser printer. I primarily use Colorize and Photoshop for creating digital versions of my cartoons. But mostly I learned to write cartoon ideas by practicing … and by reading as many cartoons as I could find by as many different cartoonists as possible.

Starting out, I used to walk around my home town and challenge myself to find something funny about things I saw on the street a phone pole, a dead squirrel, a broken fence, a crack in the sidewalk, etc …it was fun game to play and good training. These days, most of my ideas are based on things that I read, things I see on television, or topics I hear people discussing in conversations.

Often ideas just come from everyday experiences. More on this topic.

A typical work day for me begins at 5: Due to the high volume of e-mail I receive, I spend about two hours early every morning reading and answering e mail…I also upload my daily web page cartoon around 6: After breakfast, I draw for a couple of hours, then go to the post office to check my snail mail.

After an hour or two, I usually have 10 ideas written, then I break for lunch. After lunch I draw my cartoons until 5: Many days the business of cartooning takes priority over the art of cartooning…on those days I do invoices, fill orders, answer e-mail and have very little time for drawing. During my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and dogs.

I have no interesting hobbies or exciting vices to tell about. Every cartoonist uses different tools.

How Much Does the Average Cartoonist Make? | eHow

I do my line art with a black Flair felt tip pen on 24 pound Southworth bond paper. I scan my work and add color with an Apple iMac computer and a Wacom graphics tablet.

I also read a lot of magazine cartoons growing up and was influenced by Henry Martin and Sam Gross. My books are all published by North Light Books and available www. Published Available in stores or by mail order or you can order direct from your computer http: Created to be the most modern how-to-draw cartoon book available.

All of the cartoons featured on this site are copyrighted material. Any unauthorized usage is prohibited and illegal. Frequently Asked Questions About Cartooning Cartooning FAQ by Randy Glasbergen 1.

Unlike the self-employed freelancer, a staff cartoonist will probably have health insurance coverage, some type of retirement plan, scheduled vacation time…and a steady paycheck…but his income will be limited to whatever his employer decides to pay.

HOW CAN I START SELLING MY OWN CARTOONS? WHAT KIND OF COMPUTER DO I NEED TO DRAW CARTOONS? HOW DO YOU GET YOUR CARTOON IDEAS? More on this topic 7. WHAT IS YOUR DAY LIKE?

WHAT MATERIALS DO YOU USE?